Born in Santa Monica, California, John "J.P." Calderon grew up in Marina del Rey, California. He received a full volleyball scholarship to California State University, Long Beach, where he played on a nationally ranked Division I Men's team. He graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in speech communications.

Calderon spent five years as an assistant coach for the nationally ranked Long Beach State University Women's Volleyball team. He also coached many youth teams to medal at the Junior Olympics. In 2004, Calderon began a pro-beach volleyball career. In addition, Calderon is currently co-director and head trainer for the all-girls Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club. Calderon enjoys being a mentor to kids and hopes to one day open a sports facility for children. He is also dedicated to helping young girls receive college volleyball scholarships.

Calderon is an accomplished swimmer and has been outrigger canoeing since he was very young. He is a self-proclaimed fitness fanatic who loves to spend time in the gym, and enjoys lifting weights, running and hiking. Calderon also does occasional print and fitness modeling.

Calderon's mother passed away from breast cancer when he was nine years old and his father passed away last year from a brain tumor. Calderon hopes to work with charities and organizations designed to benefit cancer research.

Calderon currently resides in Long Beach, California, with his Jack Russell terrier, Frankie. His birth date is September 5, 1975.

J.P. Calderon's Early Show Interview Transcript (Transcript by James Barber for SurvivorFever.net - 10.06.06)

HARRY : Once again the latest episode of Survivor: Cook Islands came down to a battle of the sexes. The women of the Raro tribe surprised pro-volleyball player JP and spiked him right out of the game.

(clips)

HARRY : ...and JP Calderon is with us this morning. Good morning. You're laughing.

JP (shakes Harry's hand): Oh man, that was rough. (laughs)

HARRY : There are few times in the history of this show where someone was as surprised as you were in the episode last night. You had no idea.

JP : I had no clue. No clue at all.

HARRY : Who did you think would be going?

JP : I thought it was Stephannie. Everyone said Stephannie, so Stephannie was supposed to go.

HARRY : Right. Stephannie comes off of the challenge, they couldn't get the fire lit, and she says, "It's all my bad," kind of a real moment of weakness. Didn't it seem like, especially among the men, she was going to be the one to go?

JP : Yeah. Just in anything you do, if you admit defeat, it's kind of like you're opening the door.

HARRY : She even said...

JP : She even said it. "I'm the weakest link." She said it was a moment of weakness and she didn't mean it, but that was a moment of weakness and you can't show it, so I thought for sure, and that was a group consensus.

HARRY : So there she is (watches clip of Stephannie at challenge) hacking away at the flint, and they could not get the fire going. So at the actual challenge itself, you guys were behind a little bit, but by that point you were pretty much caught up, right?

JP : Right. I didn't actually want Stephannie to go, but that was the group consensus, so I was just going along with it.

HARRY : Very strong guy, very good swimmer, very good player. You were depicted in the show as being a little bit bossy, at least. There's a moment where you turn to somebody and say (takes snooty tone), "Would you get that machete for me? Could you pick that up for me?" And I thought, watch out, pal.

JP (laughs): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing how that came across. I really gotta say I worked really hard and unfortunately those moments were the ones that were shown. But I own up to everything I did, I don't back away from it.

HARRY : Was it a good experience?

JP : Oh, it was a great experience. I'm so appreciate and so thankful to Mark Burnett and the whole production. It was an opportunity of a lifetime; you gotta take it.

HARRY : Alright. Here's what I want to know, because of last week's secret scene...

(JP looks embarrassed)

HARRY : What? What? There looked like there was some kind of something going with you and Cecilia.

JP : I mean, come on, man, with all that curvaceous goodness...

HARRY : My goodness, that man is blushing. We may have to take a close-up here.

JP : Oh, man. I mean, she's the epitome of a hot, sexy Latina, so what can you say. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her on the cover of every magazine out there.

HARRY : Alright. We're gonna take a look at this week's secret scene, because unbeknownst to a lot of folks, you were really having a serious problem with your foot. Let's take a look.

JP : Oh, man...

[(close-ups of JP's feet as he walks across beach)

JP (solo): My feet, they're not doing so good. They got pretty infected in both toes on both sides of my feet.

(Adam watches JP put leaves on his feet)

ADAM : You have it on that foot, too?

JP : The skin's just been coming off, and it's very raw. I can't even put my shoes on now without feeling pain. Gotta stuff it with leaves, gotta stuff my foot in.]

HARRY : Man. That did not look like it was much fun.

JP : No. It didn't. No.

HARRY : Did the leaves help?

JP : You know what, the leaves actually helped. It's pretty funny because I caught Stephannie putting leaves in her shoes. Everyone was jumping on the putting-leaves-in-their-shoes bandwagon.

HARRY : Do a shout out to your volleyball team real quick.

JP : I just want to say hi to everyone at (?) Long Beach. See you guys there.

On last week's Survivor: Cook Islands (Thursdays at 8 pm/ET on CBS), J.P. Calderon became the third straight member of the original Latino group to be snuffed out at tribal council. Some of his tribe mates said he was lazy, others found him too bossy, and some just pegged him as a threat, so they all banded together and voted him off, all the while letting him think they were going after Stephannie, the sacrificial lamb. TVGuide.com caught up with J.P.  a professional volleyball player who volunteers with many youth teams  to find out what he thought of the episode and the season so far.

TVGuide.com: Good morning! It sounds like you are over being blindsided by your tribe.J.P. Calderon: I was over it. I'm an athlete. I really didn't play this game in the conniving, sneaky way it looked like I did. It was a game, but I looked at it as sport. When you are done, you're done. I just wanted to know the how, the when, the where and the why.

TVGuide.com: Did you have to wait until Thursday night to get that answer?J.P.: Yeah. I thought it was really kind of stupid. I'm not really good at hiding my emotions. Strategically, it was really stupid, and I don't understand why that would benefit them in any way. My mode of thought was strictly efficiency. I forgot that it was an individual game, and instead looked at it as a team thing. I really wanted the best team to go into the merge. I was approached, but I didn't start any of these alliances. They made it seem like I was the diabolical schemer and that I was running the show. The whole Billy thing was Ozzy's [idea]. My whole goal, since it was divided ethnically, was to keep an original alliance with Ozzy, Cecilia and Cristina. I told Cristina that I would take her all the way if I could. They made it a gender thing last night, [presenting me as] "ruling the nest."

TVGuide.com: There were a lot of camera shots of you sitting around giving orders.J.P.: That kind of bums me out because I worked really hard. That little perch where I was lying down, I only laid there like two or three times. Every time I laid on it they showed it.

TVGuide.com: You said it was a hard decision to vote Stephannie off. Why?J.P.: Because I didn't want to vote her off. It was that she said, "I don't want to be here, I'm the weakest link." How do you argue with that? It was a group consensus. That is a legitimate reason for voting someone off.

TVGuide.com: I wasn't so surprised that the girls got together.J.P.: I know this is going to sound bad, but this is where I think it is really stupid. Rebecca and Jenny really did this on an insecurity level, and I don't see where it is going to benefit them. I thought [the male alliance members] were stronger, not because of size and strength, but because they were presences.

TVGuide.com: Were you shocked that Adam and Brad voted against you?J.P.: I was really sad that Brad and Adam and Cristina did not keep their word. I do have to apologize to Nate, because up until this [episode aired], I really thought it was him and Pavarti that constructed this, and Nate really kept his word and that was really cool. I'm intense and I have a presence and I think that is what makes me look like this diabolical Latin "Mwa-ha-ha-ha" kind of person. I don't back down and I don't lie and I'm kind of candid so I think that is what comes across as maybe being a leader. I draw attention to myself and I think that was maybe my downfall. In my [outside] world of athletes, men and women do not have a problem with calling you out and being in your face, and it is not taken in an offensive way. It is a pretty brutal group of friends that I have. I wasn't scared one bit how the media or the public was going to see me, I was more afraid of what my friends were going to do when I got home. I didn't realize until after the show that when you integrate with different groups of people  not races, but different people who don't live in your world  they might look at you as this mean person. In my world, I'm one of the nicest people.

TVGuide.com: There was a lot of speculation about why your tribe sent Candice to Exile island, thus saving her from tribal council.J.P.: I was kind of involved in [the decision]. I thought Candice wasn't a presence, she was just a weak player and it would make the stronger players vote each other out.

TVGuide.com: If you had sent Cecilia, she'd still be around and aligning with you, instead of evicted.J.P.: I didn't even think about it. I wish I had. It ended up backfiring. But if I had fought to send her, then everybody would know there was this Latin-Hispanic alliance.

TVGuide.com: What was your reaction to the way the tribes were originally divided?J.P.: I loved it! For me it was an opportunity to represent this Hispanic-Latin community and culture. It was personal because, other than for my name, by judgment no one thinks that I'm Hispanic, [and I lived] my whole life where people would judge my ethnicity. When you are who you are, you want to be recognized for that. Living in Venice by the beach and playing volleyball doesn't help out. I thought our whole group was a way to show that we are not stereotypical: Billy is a heavy-metal guy, and no Hispanic is supposed to listen to heavy metal; Cecilia is a computer consultant, and we're not supposed to be doing that, we should be doing more blue-collar work; Ozzy surfs and I play volleyball, when we "should" be playing soccer; Cristina is "supposed " to be the one behind bars, and not enforcing law. I thought it was a great way to show that we can be successful in many other ways.

TVGuide.com: So what did your friends think of the show?J.P.: They just made fun of me. They were all behind what I did, like the Billy incident. I never attacked him  I think Billy is a great guy, but I didn't like Billy the player. And if I had it to do over again, I'd do it again. I own up to what I do and I hate people that back down. The show touched on him being lazy, and me being lazy, and that was one stereotype that I wanted to break. We felt as a group that when we merged, he was going to defect because he made an alliance with all four of us. That's what bugged me. And the fact that he was such an avid Survivor fan, and knew all the strategies and techniques, that had me really nervous. I was like, "We've got to get him out," but I didn't want to be the jerk to bring it up. That was why we threw the challenge. I would have carried his workload all day long if I knew that he was trustworthy, because that is a vote. I couldn't care less if I have to work harder for everybody. I didn't look at this game as popularity, but how can I stay in it longer and get a strong group behind me.

TVGuide.com: What's next for you?J.P.: I don't know. Mark Burnett told the whole group, "This will change your life and you'll find time to examine and see who you are and where you are in your life." I just let it go in one ear and out the other because I thought it was just crap. But he was right. I want to do something different now. I love volleyball and dedicating my life to kids and children. That was another reason I was bummed out that they made it such a gender thing, because I've dedicated the last six or seven years of my life to volunteering with young girls, so it is kind of ironic. But I want to do something different and where I can help people. I want to use my energy to do that.

Survivor: Cook Islands Interview: J.P. A talk with the buff professional volleyball player about playing the ultimate game. by Staci Krause (IGN - 10.10.06)

October 9, 2006 - Survivor: Cook Islands held a twist in the wings for professional volleyball player J.P. on Thursday night, when the confident former Aitu tribe member was voted off his tribe, much to his surprise. Nate is the only other member of that tribe that was unaware of the change of decision to vote off J.P. instead of Stephannie.

We talked to J.P. about his experience in the Cook Islands, his shock at being voted out and who he hopes wins the whole thing.

J.P.: I was having breakfast at a restaurant and someone came up to me. They asked me what I do and I told them they were like 'no way' and then asked me where I'm from and my background and all these questions and then they took my information down and then I got a call.

IGN TV: Had you seen any of the show before?

J.P.: I saw a little bit of last season and a couple other seasons but not on a regular basis. I love the show, but I don't get to really watch TV all that much.

IGN TV: When you got there, was it what you expected?

J.P.: Yeah. Yeah, it was I guess. It was just so surreal, it was crazy.

IGN TV: What was your initial reaction when you found out about the division along racial lines?

J.P.: I loved it. Not that I was prepared for it, but it was just a chance to be a representative for your culture, your background, your upbringing, your community. And for me, it was a little personal because I've brought up my whole life with people not even realizing that I'm Hispanic just based on my looks. This was just a cool way for me to say ' hey everybody, I'm 100% Hispanic.' I'm from Costa Rica.

IGN TV: Were you worried about being stereotyped?

J.P.: Yeah. Yeah. I didn't really care though. The race thing doesn't bother me so that's why I loved. I was like 'sweet, we get to embrace our culture on national television.' Of course, you are worried about, like last night, they kind of portrayed me as sitting around and I was not lazy at all. I worked really hard. That stereotype I didn't like. The being lazy we're hard workers. Whatever you give us, we're hard workers at it. That stereotype. Other than that, I didn't even really even care.

IGN TV: How do you think the show represented you and your personality?

J.P.: I wish they would have made me look a little bit more brighter. 'Cause I was. I'm very intense and I'm very hardcore and I'm very candid and open and, at the wrong time, honest. I am all those things. And I am confident and I am slightly arrogant. I'm not going to hide from what they show because it is on tape. I hate people who say that. But I wish they would have also shown the times I was goofy. I smiled, believe it or not, out there. I made jokes and I had fun and I was goofy. I did all those things. I talked to people about personal things and I had fun. For episode one, they didn't show me that much, but every time they showed me I was always so intense, like game face, arrrr. Then in episode two, I was the bully on the show. And then episode three, I was just super intense the whole time again. They just kept making me look that way. Blah blah blah.

IGN TV: What was your strategy going into the game?

J.P.: To go in and try not to be in any way controlling and try not to be a big presence. Wherever I go, I'm a presence. I walk into a bar, I'm a presence. I'm always that guy that guys feel threatened with their girlfriends just for no reason. I'm always that guy for some reason. I didn't want to be that. I wanted to try to act more subdued, but once you get comfortable, you are who you are. I really didn't fake my personality when I was on the original Aitu tribe. We were just all kind of more adult about it. If we had a problem, we said it out in the open and we all talked about it. We were really comfortable with each other. Ozzy and Cristina got into fights all the time, but they worked it out. I would say something and if Cecilia didn't agree or if Cristina didn't agree, it wasn't like 'I hate you bitch'. We talked it out. I never felt threatened over there. So I kind of took that when I went to the new tribe and I'd say 'we should do this' or 'do that', and they took that as 'oh my god, look he's being bossy' and 'he's being a leader' and stuff like that. I took my experience from my other tribe over. And my experience in real life is very in your face. None of my friends would last because I'm the nicest one out of my friends.

IGN TV: You seemed genuinely surprised when the vote turned out the way it did. How do you think they managed to vote you off in that way without you (or Nate apparently) having any idea?

J.P.: That's because I genuinely was! (laughs) I took that nap and they did it while I was taking a nap. I was tired. It makes me mad because I took that nap, we just got back in from that last challenge. I did that swimming part and I was dying. That wiped me out. So I said 'I'm going to take a nap, if you guys need me, I'll be in the tent.' And that's when they decided to say 'hey'.

I was really, really shocked. I don't hate any of these people, but I was just really shocked about Brad, Adam and Cristina. Especially Cristina. I told her I would take her all the way. One thing about me is that I keep my word. I made an alliance with Nate, Brad, Adam, Cristina, Cecilia and Ozzy. Those were the people that I wanted to take as far as I could. I would report to Cristina everyday, what people were saying. I just don't understand why she didn't trust me. Everyone thought I was this diabolical schemer and I wasn't.

IGN TV: Do you wish you hadn't voted Billy off like that?

J.P.: No. I told Billy I would have done it again. I didn't vote Billy off because of his laziness. The only time I commented about his laziness was when I said he didn't carry the workload. But the rest of the time, I talked about trust, trust, trust, trust, trust. I didn't trust him. They didn't show this, but he made an alliance with all four of us the first day. He told the girls 'J.P. and Ozzy want to do the guy thing against you since there's three of us. I'm not having it, I'm going to stick with you girls.' And then he told me 'you and I would be good. Who would ever think that the big jock is going to hang out with me. It would be a great idea, no one would ever suspect it.' And then he went to Ozzy and said 'we can't beat J.P. He's too big and strong.' And he went around to everybody. So then, the girls came up to me and Ozzy one day, because we are really open, they are like 'we're mad at you guys' and we're like 'why?' and they are like 'we heard that you don't want us' and they totally called us out. I'm like 'no! Billy said 'dedede' and then Ozzy's like 'Billy told me blah blah blah' and I'm like 'whoa, whoa, whoa, we're getting played by Billy right now.' I was like 'I don't trust him.' I knew that if we got to the merge, he would defect and talk about us. The 'whoa is me, they are picking on me because I'm the heavy, out of shape, heavy metal guy' and it would have been easier for him to get away with that that for me, the big, strong guy to come in be like 'hey guys, no, he's lying to you.' I would have had a hard time diffusing that.

IGN TV: Why do you think of the original Aitu tribe, three of the first four eliminations have come from there?

J.P.: The curse of Billy. The curse of Billy has been upon us. You know, I don't know. With Billy, we voted him out because of the trust factor. With Cecilia, I think it was just she didn't fit where they needed people. And it was really just by one vote.

IGN TV: Do you think you were playing too hard?

J.P.: I wasn't playing, though. That's the thing. Everyone's making me this like I was in charge of everything and I was running the show and I wasn't. I didn't even start the alliance at the Raro tribe. I was sitting on the raft and me and Nate and Brad and we were talking and I don't know who brought it up, but they were like 'we should do an alliance with us four stick together' and I go 'ok, yeah, cool, let's do it' and they were like 'we need more girls' and I was like 'oh my god, this is sweet, this is where Cristina fits in. I've got one! Cristina's totally loyal.' And then Nate goes 'I've got Parvati' so then we were one up on them now.

I thought Nate this whole time was the one who orchestrated [my elimination]. Nate and Parvati. So at the finale, I'm going to give Nate a big high five, because he stuck to it. He didn't know. I was really bummed with Adam and Brad and Cristina. IGN TV: How tough was it being on the island with no fire, no drinking water and no luxuries of any kind?

J.P.: Oh, it sucked. The first few days really sucked. Thank god we got the flint.

IGN TV: What was the hardest thing for you?

J.P.: Eating. I had a hard time. If you notice, if I'm not talking, they always show me eating. I was starving. I was dying. I'm used to eating a lot.

IGN TV: Did you bond with anyone?

J.P.: I thought I did. I thought Cristina and I were completely tight. That was the biggest shocker to me.

IGN TV: Who do you hope wins the whole thing?

J.P.: Well, for the game reasons, I don't think anybody on our Raro tribe is going to win the game only because I don't think they have the mentality as a group and it shows. I mean, them voting me out because.. it wasn't a strategic reason why they voted me, they got this 'girl/guy' thing, it should be a 'what is going to be the strongest tribe going into the merge' thing. I'm thinking Ozzy has all the components to win the game, maybe he'll slide his way through there. He's going to have to lay under the radar big time now. And Yul seems to be the superman right now. He's doing everything right. He's playing a good game. So maybe those two. But then you gotta watch out for the silent ones, Candice, Becky or Sundra.

IGN TV: What are you up to now?

J.P.: I don't know. Not anything really right now. I've started coaching again, but I've told everybody that interviewed me that I want a job, so if you have a job for me, give me a job.

IGN TV: Any last words for America?

J.P.: I loved the whole experience. The game was great. I loved it. I can't wait to go to the reunion.